Copper Equation
by Smoking still
Summary: When their captors came for the first time since Tony was awake he felt that bolt of thundering fear and rage at his situation. If he could figure out a way out of here he would but they left him little in that catagory he was desperate but at least he wasn't alone.
1. Copper

I had a hard time with this for one reason and one reason only: I couldn't bring myself to keep Tony Stark/Ironman in complete Character. Though in my defense this is a rather awful situation; I avoid things with violence and graphic mentions of it. Simply because most people can't stomach reading it.

So! Hello everyone and welcome to my story _**Copper equation**_! I do hope you enjoy the first chapter. It's kind of rushed out but the story is fast moving, I don't like to beat around the bush a lot. I will give detail where it's needed.

There is an original Character in this story but do not fear- she is simply a protagonist; she has no romantic involvement with any of the Avengers, or subsequent characters outside of her interaction with them. The Focus of the story is on Tony Stark- I won't go into detail on it.

_Disclaimer:_ While I write about them; I do not profit from this whatsoever. MARVEL and all characters associated with it are not mine to claim.

Warnings: Well, not much. Some cursing, and possible spelling errors because while I pride myself in my writing ability I'm not perfect and I have not scanned it for errors.

* * *

_Copper_ is a chemical element its atomic number is _twenty nine_. It is a ductile metal with a high thermal and electrical conductivity.

* * *

Tony mistook the ache in his head as the product of a hangover- and he groaned turning over. He mistook the hard floor as his bedroom floor having not made it back to his bed. He really should slow on the drinking but he couldn't exactly bring himself to. What got his attention- and really grabbed it by the haunches- was the soft crackling giggle that was coming from somewhere to the right of him.

_I don't remember taking home anyone yesterday night; there is no way_

Not to mention that the thought was paired with _Pepper is going to kill me_ and _what the hell have I done?_ Though that didn't exactly make real sense to him because really, he was drinking in his house, was he not? If this was one of Barton's pranks he was going to strangle the man. Slowly he peeled his eyes open and the sticky feeling they had reminded him of when he was twelve and got bronchitis. Turning over slowly he groaned and stared up at rocks- rocks and it was cold his head pounding and his heart- sudden and unexpectedly- did a huge flip flop and skipped four beats.

'_oh my god this can't be happening' _Hit him full force as he felt finally that not only his head ached like unholy fire but his body did too. All over, like he was thrown in a potato sack and kicked for hours. It only took his intelligence point three seconds to catch up with his body and his surroundings and he sat up a hand going to his chest to make sure- make damn sure- that the reactor was still in place. He looked down his breathing was white in the cold air and there it was glowing strongly in his chest. _Not a car battery_ and that was somewhat comforting.

The giggling stopped and he heard the shuffle his eyes scanning over to the noise, sweeping over a woman who was sitting against a wall her legs extended looking like hellfire- then around the room. He wanted to say something but nothing came to mind right away because he currently battled the constant repeat of memories he already had of an event like this one. He looked over himself and sucked in a breath, apparently these people weren't too smart which was nice. His shirt was cut from where they tried to pry the entire metal enclosure of the reactor out of his chest. The skin their burned and was flared up a nasty red color, but he could live with that.

He was dirty and it felt like he was lying in an awkward position for days- not eight hours. He cleared his throat and felt it was quiet one minute too long and looked back at his company- memories of Yinsen were sharp and he felt guilt pull at his chest. "Where am I?" He asked his voice croaked in a familiar fashion and she gave him this pitying look. The lights were poor, and her hair looked like a flaming red and copper mess on her head- tied in the crudest excuse for a pony tail he'd had the pleasure of seeing.

"If I knew I would gladly tell you." She had a small undertone to her voice- an accent of some kind but it was so subtle Tony chose to ignore it. "You don't know where we are?" Tony tried to sound firm, tried to sound strong and like this wasn't tearing him apart from the inside out. It's like his nightmares all over again but so real- and so fucking sharp it was ripping him to shreds. Fear soared into his head like a monster rearing its ugly head.

"No, I don't I'm sorry. There is water and stale bread but I wouldn't eat the bread it's been there a while." She motioned to a tin cup and a plate that looked like a scrap of metal. Her eyes were shadowed and Tony couldn't make out much of her features except that she was female- her hair was some kind of red or copper, and she wasn't fat- but not skinny. Her clothes looked like they saw too much blood in a short amount of time and the bruises on the side of her face which he could see told the tale of a beating he'd rather not ask about. He clawed his way across the short distance to the metal tin and took a drink- he'd been through this before so he'd have to deal. She broke the silence that Tony didn't feel like breaking her voice steady and soft "I'm Starling, anyways" She offered up trying to make Tony feel better probably. He set the tin down and rubbed his mouth dry with the back of his hand as he squinted his eyes at her. "Um, Tony, Tony Stark." He scooted himself across the dirty floor and extended his hand for her to shake. The light was better now, the closer he sat anyways- and he noticed the bruises on the top of her hands and arms as she gave him a firm squeeze. "What happened to you?" Tony felt he should fear for himself if she was in such bad condition and really _who the hell beat a woman?_ He had to remind himself that people were disgusting from time to time.

"Oh" Starling tilted her head back and gazed down at him with one swollen eye that was blue the side of her face colored ugly dark blues and a healing tone of ugly green on her cheek bone. Her lip was split and swollen and red and she gave a smile that seemed so inappropriate. He tried not to cringe but the look of dislike wouldn't leave his face. "They tried to take that glowing thing out of your chest; I figured if it's in there, it's got its purpose. Don't know why they wanted it at all." She started to explain and guilt swelled in Tony's chest. "I suppose it was the general in me that made me shove that guy off you- you were unconscious it's wrong to get at a guy when he's down." She swallowed thickly and her eyes closed in a painfully tender way. "I managed to scare them off anyways, not without getting hit a few times. I think they actually broke my hand." Starling lifted her other hand to show him- the left because she shook with her right. It was swollen and ugly looking too. "Either way it was worth it. Are you alright?" Tony didn't understand why she did it.

"Why? Why would you sacrifice yourself to save me? You don't even know me" He couldn't keep the anger out of his voice when he said it. Starling gave him a long look when her eyes re-opened and he pressed his lips together in angst. "That was stupid don't do that again, ever." It had nothing to do with pride- it was guilt that made him be this way. He didn't need another person to die saving him again.

The silence was deafening, if that was even possible and Tony groaned to fill it, trying to think his way out of this one. He had no material- the place was just rocks and a bunch of ratty blankets. "How long have you been here?" Tony grossed the subject because where he sat against a large rock in the dimness that made his eyes hurt- there was nothing else to talk about. No one visited and there wasn't much noise. "A few months" Tony thought about that carefully "Why? Why you? Why me?" Tony asked because that was the real question. Motive- what was their motivation?

"Because I'm not from around here, if you know what I mean." Starling paused at the crazy look Tony was giving her. "And because while I am a choir singer for a local theater, I am also a strategist and a tactician-a think tank in plain terms. If you need a way to get somewhere without being seen; if you need to bypass something I am the person to call. You want to kill someone without even being in the room- I've got you covered." Tony felt his entire body grow cold. Did they want her to figure out a way to do something and him to build a system to combat efforts to track their planned movements? Did they want him to deliver some weapon that will succeed in going through with hellish endeavors?

"Well, fuck" Tony said in a slow breath his brown eyes scanning for an escape route. "I've been planning their untimely demise since I got here, really. And while I have given them few plans on how they could get through whatever they need to get through with limited data none of them have been sound enough to actually work." Starling offered up carefully giving him a frown that looked like it hurt. Her face was bruised up pretty badly. Tony gazed at her with a small sarcastic smile on his face "Well, isn't this just the grandest event I've been a part of all year."He drawled with all the usual undertones of cynicism he had, his thoughts wandering back to the previous ones: _How the fuck was he going to get out of here._

Xxx

When their captors came for the first time since Tony was awake he felt that bolt of thundering fear and rage at his situation. They left him alone and badgered Starling for hours in what sounded like a twisted form of Russian and German. "I don't have enough information, how many times do I have to tell you that!" Starling eventually said in a strained, scared voice and one of the men- he was hairy looking- smacked her in the face. Tony managed to bite his tongue for longer than he anticipated he had the patience for but the hitting got him. "Why don't we make a compromise then?" Tony started to talk his mind wheeling with what to say next when they all stared at his sitting from. "I mean, look, she doesn't have enough information you need to give us more than that. That's like asking me to make a gun with a piece of plastic and glue. It's not going to fly" His voice drifted unsure because they looked angry and Tony felt his body stiffen in fear.

"Fine" That thick accent made Tony want to cringe "We will return in two days time with more information for you. You better produce us a good line of action" he spat at Starling who cringed back and nodded her head quickly. They left a large metal door slamming closed. Starling still sat in her wooden chair, tied to it and Tony rose to quickly untie her. "I'm sorry but that was escalating." Tony rushed out _thank fucking god that worked_ raced over and over in his head.

Their situation didn't ever get better, to Tony's distain it only ever got worse. The longer he was in here even with the company he felt his mind growing anxious and his thoughts made him mad in fear and hate and that ever nagging thought of '_we're not getting out of here_' was persistent in his depression. Starling tried to keep her spirits up but really after the first month and a half of them coming every few days and talking to Starling and looking at Tony with that look of '_we're going to kill you when this is over'_ made it hard. Eventually Starling caved and gave them an idea that might work- and Tony begged for them to try it because at least SHEILD would know he was gone.

It always made him wonder if they were even looking at times though. Did anyone care that Tony Stark- Ironman- was missing? Were they really looking? That thought nagged him more then he wanted it to. "You said you've been in here for months, how long exactly?" Tony asked one rather cold night curled up in most of the blankets at Starling's admission to use them. She had one wrapped around her thin frame- a body that was suffering from lack of proper food like his was. Starling sniffed and rubbed her face her breath coming out ragged and frosty "I think almost five. I lose count too often to be sure. Have you been keeping track?" Starling said to him her smile small but there.

While the bruising on the side of her face and eye was no longer as bad looking as before he could still see the ghostly reminder that it was there before. "One month and I think fourteen days." Tony said carefully picking at the frays of the blanket over his legs. "You are correct however it is hard to keep track when there is no sunlight in here." That depressed him too- be wanted to see the sun. The constant cold throughout the days and nights made him wonder where the hell they even were.

Xxx

"Tony" Starling's voice was hushed as she shook him awake.

_Day fifty three_ Tony's mind supplied him when his eyes opened. He wasn't even sure anymore if that count as correct. Her face was close to his and in the poor light it was cast with shadows. "I've got a plan." Starling said softly to him her eyes glancing around erratically before going back to him. She looked like hell, even more so when she was this close to him. He rose quickly his eyes wide his heart hammering. It was hope that made him move; because his body felt starved despite the small amount of food he ate. "You do?" Tony whispered back to her and she nodded making like she was checking him over to make sure nothing was wrong with him.

Tony got punched a few times in the stomach and kicked in the face when he mouthed off to one of the people that held them captive. He couldn't exactly stand it when Starling sat there and spoke carefully and got hit for not having a good enough answer. It was the pride in him that couldn't take watching a woman get beat up while he simply sat there "I do. They are going to bring us food in about twenty minutes" Starling sounded unsure but Tony didn't care he wanted to get the fuck out of here. "We'll need the blankets it's still really cold and I imagine it's even worse out there." Starling sounded strained and nervous though Tony couldn't fault her for that.

The plan was set- the idea was for them to deliver the food and Tony to accept it at the door. He wrapped the blankets around his arms and his waist like a toga of sorts. Starling was well versed in hand to hand combat and while Tony wanted to question why she didn't escape before he didn't. When he took the food Starling was going to flatten them the best she could and they were going to make a run for it. The worst that could happen was probably death and even if that wasn't what either of them wanted it was worth a shot. They might even go easy on them if only to protect the meaning of a tactical asset. "I can fire a gun" Tony said without missing a beat "If you can get one, I'll take it." He didn't want to have to kill people to get out again. The first time was traumatizing enough, but he'd do it if it meant his freedom.

"Alright then" Starling had said and they got into their positions. There were no cameras in the room that Tony noticed- and Starling said she couldn't find any either so that was an advantage; the surprise factor meant a lot for this plan to work. The metal door swung open and Starling dodged getting smacked with it, Tony grinned at the two men who stared back at him meanly. "Hey is that my food? Good because I'm starving." He laughed and reached to take the scrap of metal they used for a plate. One man glanced at the other and they handed it over- wrong move for them because when his arm extended towards Tony, Starling came from behind the door and hit him in the elbow to make the arm give way. The metal and the food clashed with the floor and she was quick to spin and nail him in the nose with her elbow. She kicked the gun the second man had down and made to jump on his back.

Tony backed away the sound of his neck cracking and watching the man fall with Starling still on his back struck fear in Tony.

The look on Starling's face was murderous in all its glory and she reminded him –frankly- of Natasha. He moved forward and Starling started to strip the two men of their coats. "We could use these" She said her voice quivering- apparently she didn't like having to kill people either. Tony picked up the rifle, and checked it to make sure it was really loaded before they set off down the halls.

It was crude, rocky and not well lit. They managed to struggle their way through six more people before Tony found a door that lead outside. A bitter wind smacked them both hard and Starling recoiled slightly at the feeling. "You were right" Tony said panting as they started to run into the snow bank. "It's fucking cold here" Tony grit his teeth feeling his entire body start to shake. His teeth chattered, his muscles cramped from the cold but he kept moving. If he stopped now this whole thing would be blown out of the water and that was the last thing they needed. "Should have worn warmer clothes, really" Tony babbled to abate his own growing fear that now that they were out and being hunted for sure- he would instead die of hypothermia.

Tony's eyes traveled to Starling who really looked like she was struggling to keep up. He failed to notice that her leg had a bullet wound in it until they struggled their way into a thicket of trees and snow. "Shit you're bleeding!" Tony said eyes wide skidding to a halt to hoist her arm over his shoulder to help her move better. "You're a real joker, aren't you?" The too big jacket started to slide from her shoulder and Tony tried his best to yank it back up. "Hey come on, someone has to be. You're wearing clothes that have seen better days- I mean really Jeans? And a tank top?" He made a disappointed noise trying to keep the mood light as he struggled to move fast and keep her upright.

"At least I don't have flip flops on, that would be a real mood killer. Though my feet are going numb." Starling mused wincing as she hobbled along holding onto Tony for the better part of their trek so far. Tony who still had his blankets wrapped around him cringed and nodded. "I suppose I didn't do any better but at least my tee shirt has a cool band on it. Come on- ACDC is awesome admit it." Tony jested feeling panic well in his chest. Bullet wounds can get infected, which means she was going to get sick. They needed to do something about the bleeding or she'd pass out. Their odds of survival were diminishing the longer they moved through the snow.

Tony glanced over his shoulder his breathing erratic and his heart hammering as he moved trying not to groan at the extra weight he was attempting to support. Not to mention that the trail they left in the snow was a giant sign that said 'Hey! We went this way!' and that disturbed him even more then he'd like to admit. Starling gripped his arm to get his attention and he looked down at her, tripping up on a large but buried root. They both fell into the snow and Starling groaned rolling onto her back and sitting up. Her teeth chattered loudly as she started to grab handfuls of snow and shove it into the wound. She shook like nothing Tony had ever seen, and he figured she was trembling about as bad as he was.

"I need material to tie this off…" Her words were shaking and her eyes were frantic. It was getting dark outside which Tony's mind supplied him was a very bad thing. Tony was smart- damn it he was a genius billionaire! He'd figure out what to do, except you know survival in the wilderness of god knows where wasn't on his list of things to learn in the last six months. "Here, have some ratty blanket for your wound." Tony began ripping before his mind allowed him to think on it further. "My hands are numb, I'm sure yours are too" Starling spoke wincing as he tied the fabric around the wound on her leg. It was right above the knee and bled profusely onto the snow. "Yeah- y-yeah they are." Tony said to her in response making sure the tie was secure.

Getting up was a lot harder than he bargained for but they both managed to stand and were off again. Starling limped badly and Tony really couldn't help her outside of carrying her which she refused. While they moved, without stopping well after it got dark Tony thought of alternatives. He was trying to think of a way to get some kind of communication out to be picked up without their previous captors noticing it. "Town!" Starling gasped out fumbling as she pointed ahead of her at the lights just beyond the trees. "Or another base" Tony breathed and Starling licked her chapped lips- Tony felt that pain, the cold wind was biting and unforgiving.

"Worth a shot" Starling grossed and they carefully passed the tree line. Tony shivered so badly he could hardly hold onto the blankets around his arms anymore. "It's just a town" Tony felt a relief he didn't think was plausible in this situation at the realization. "A farming town, or something" Starling offered up a guess as they struggled towards the soft glow of a porch light. The first house they hit had one, and there were two shadows standing on it. The language wasn't familiar- not really- and Tony thought it was Russian he was almost sure and one of the figures ran towards them. He yelled in Russian and Starling fell to her knees her clothes too damp, her body too tired. Tony stood just hardly holding himself together next to Starling when the very rosy but extremely worried face greeted them in the lamp light he had on him.

"Come, inside, inside!" He ushered and Tony felt his paranoia spark dangerously. If he was a worker at that place they were at he was screwed. Starling seemed to feel the same kind of anxiety because she hesitated to allow him to help her up before giving in.

_Sweet temporary salvation_ Tony thought tiredly and followed after them.


	2. Gold

Warnings: Use of the language foul, uncomfortable subjects

Okay, so yeah, I totally meant to post this yesterday morning but because I am distracted easily by other tasks (sorry, sorry!) and Work has been giving me hell, I couldn't. But! I remembered it today, and I hope you enjoy it because I really only read half of it for errors and made sure I got most in a skim of the rest.

I apologize- again.

Disclaimer: Is in the first Chapter, go back and read it if this is important for you to see every chapter. :3

* * *

_Gold_ is a dense soft metal, ductile chemical element and its atomic number is _seventy nine_. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements solid under standard conditions.

* * *

Tony managed to express his need for a phone after these people fed him and Starling. They ate like starved beasts and the food was mediocre but it was still good. An older woman managed to get them warmer clothes and both of them changed. Starling didn't mention to them that she had a bullet wound and if they noticed they didn't seem to say anything.

"Phone" Tony said hiding the light in his chest with a blanket he still kept with him. It was ratty but it was still warm. "Can I use your phone?" Tony asked the older woman and she nodded exiting the room and coming back with a phone that looked much too old.

When Tony hit the green button he heard a dial tone and that was enough for him. He dialed, he dialed a number he knew by heart- and it rang. It felt like forever to Tony, as it rang and then a fumbling noise and the familiar but sleepy "Hello" He heard made him want to burst into tears. No butchered accent, no scary Russian or German or whatever the hell it was- nothing but good old English.

"Steve?" Tony questioned and he heard a sharp intake of breath "Tony?!" it was loud and he recoiled from the way the line cracked.

"Tony, where are you, are you okay? I didn't recognize the number, what happened? I've been looking for you- we all have- where are you?!" The questions were rushed on Steve's part and he could hear the man fumbling to get dressed. The time difference was a bitch, Tony knew that much.

"I'm fine- at least as good as I can be. We need a rendezvous point; I'll tell you about it when I get picked up." Tony didn't mean to sound bitter, or hateful or accusing but it was only natural.

It felt good to know they were looking, but it sucked that they couldn't fucking find him. He can't blame them for not being able to, he couldn't actually say it was their fault. Security in the Tower was obviously shitty and needed an upgrade- again.

"Where are you?" The question was firm and Tony felt his chest ache with a sudden need to just sleep, and be rested and be safe. "I don't actually know" Tony offered up feeling like a jack ass "How are we supposed to come get you if…" Steve drifted off the sound of him walking loud on the line. "Russia somewhere, okay?" Tony snapped and cursed himself for his poor mood.

Starling was sitting next to him in a chair and gazed at him "We're in north east Russia. Tell them that we're in a small town and we need evacuation, trace the call if they have to it shouldn't be hard. We'll be five clicks south west of this town, tell them to track the call and do the math." Starling said in a controlled voice both of her hands pressing on her leg.

Tony stared at her for a long while, wondering why he didn't think of that and relayed the message. "Got that?" Tony said to Steve and the man gave him an affirmative. Tony stayed on the phone long enough to allow SHEILD to get a trace on it before hanging up. He wondered briefly how SHEILD got it so quickly- and then the thought dawned on him that Steve was probably staying at one of their bases for any updates, it was like the good captain to do something like that.

"I can't imagine that will take long" Tony said feeling too tired, feeling too much pain to want to travel however far Five clicks is. "It probably won't" Starling nodded her head looking beat to hell, just like Tony felt. She stood and limped over to the older woman and gentleman that helped then and said a few things. The woman smiled and nodded muttering back and Starling gave her a hug before she managed her way back to Tony. "Alright" She said in a voice of finality.

"Take this" The man said his accent and English was awful. He handed Starling a thick stick with a handle on it- a cane- for her limp and she smiled at him tired and paranoid. Tony watched her, and ignored that he could better see her features. He'll commit them to memory later; right now they needed to leave. After the gracious older couple gave them some packaged bread, a canteen of water and some jackets and scarves and hats they were traveling again. South west, five clicks.

Starling had a good sense of direction and Tony didn't question it, it was dark outside but the lights from the houses eased the travel a little.

Tony groaned his lungs felt full of ice and he coughed a few times into his hands, his cold, numb hands. The warm house made all his limbs tingle now that he was out and about in the cold again they quickly numbed and it was painful. He wiggled his fingers to keep the blood flow good and glanced over at Starling who walked in a jerky manner.

Tony couldn't remember a time where he hated his poor judgment when drinking more and silently vowed not to drink so much anymore. Which, in reality wasn't going to happen soon Tony was an addict, that was for sure and his mind had no qualms with reminding him of that fact? He told himself to shut up promptly and scoffed out loud. Starling glanced back at the noise and stared at him as she picked her feet up to walk through a large pack of snow.

It turned out that five clicks was Five hundred feet. Five hundred feet outside of the town; this was about eight houses long and a street. So when they suddenly stopped and entered the woods; a very thick and small bush really, Tony was surprised. "That wasn't far" Tony said looking at her she shrugged "It wasn't intended to be." Starling glanced around and the silence that greeted them was awful. Who knew how long they had to stay here? Who knew how long it would take them to get to Russia, in the frozen wasteland and find them? And then get them home? It could be hours and Tony didn't know if they had hours to wait.

"I hope they come soon damn it" Tony breathed out the shivering starting all over again. Tony was going to forever hate the cold after this; forever. He huddled down next to her his pants getting wet all over again from the snow- he could feel his body go numb where it made contact with it. The cold was painful, too much so and while they waited he fought with himself to keep from complaining too much. "This must have been how Capsicle felt when he went under." Tony joked out loud trying to ease the tension that was starting to build from his anxiety.

Starling just glanced at him- he could hardly see her in the dark but he could feel her arm where it touched his arm, he could feel her shaking and feel his body respond just as violently to the could. Scarves and jackets aside he was still freezing. "You-you think the-they'll find us out here?" No doubt they were still looking, whoever they were and that didn't sit well with Tony.

"Probably" Starling offered her teeth chattered loudly when she opened her mouth. "Most likely the best we can do is keep our eyes and ears out for any movement." She was trying to sound as if she wasn't afraid, but Tony could hear the waver in her voice. He could feel the tense unsure tone under that pretend strength. Even if it was pretend however, Tony appreciated it.

One of them had to be optimistic; Tony wasn't naturally an optimistic person if he couldn't help himself. If he couldn't think of a plan of attack and escape; he tried though, to stay hopeful.

xxx

_I've lost all concept of time_ Tony thought mildly concerned for himself. Soon, he felt, he would be a Tony-icicle. Which, honestly, that didn't sit well with him and he wondered for maybe the tenth time if this was what Steve had felt when he went under. Captain America might not have felt anything though, if he was already unconscious. The thoughts played over and over in his head, running back and forth.

"What was your favorite song?" Tony asked out of the blue feeling like he just wasted the warm breath for no reason when Starling didn't answer him right away. His mind was foggy and felt hot in the cold with fever. He huddled down closer to Starling against the trunk of a small too thin pine tree.

"My favorite song?" She said sneezing and covering her face with the scarf. She had wrapped her hands in it and was rocking herself to try and create heat. It wasn't going over very well. "C-currently it's a tie between two songs" She stuttered and Tony curled closer to her throwing some of his blanket around her. "Not a word" He muttered feeling like he had no legs. Starling didn't speak of it and neither did Tony as she started to explain the two songs.

"It's a song called 'How many times' and between…" She coughed and sneezed again, "and a song called 'it all belongs to me'" Her voice cracked and drifted. It was too dark still to tell what she looked like, but he figured she was turning blue around the edges. Tony himself felt like he was.

He fought on however- he didn't want to die of hypothermia if he couldn't help himself but if he suffered a bit of frost bite for it he'd rather it be his toes then his fingers. He curled the mentioned phalanges around the inside of the blanket and squeezed his –not-legs- closer to his chest. Starling shoved into him and they both shook hard before weird wet feeling warmth surrounded them.

"S-sing some of that song." Tony said his mind felt like it burned but froze at the same time and he let his fingers tug at the ends of the fur hat on his head. Starling let out a wet sounding laugh and blinked at him. He thought she blinked anyways when he looked at her. "Which o-on-one?" She managed to get out and Tony thought back. Did he already forget?

"The second?" The name was lost to him and that disturbed him almost as much as not feeling his legs below the knees did. "O-okay" Starling said to him and Tony felt her move a little and take a deep breath of the wet air inside the blanket.

"Loving you is hard, I feel like I-I-I'm gunna hurt myself, and I d-don-t wanna do it ba-baby." She tried and even with the stuttering from her shivering, she still had a pretty voice.

"A-and loving you is so har-hard an-and the way you act hasn't been n-no help…y-yeah you got i-it sweet don't you" She paused to breath and took another swing at singing a little more.

"Y-you must be bl-_blind_, you-you must be _dumb_, you must b-be _trippin_' you mus-must-t be craz-crazy; you must be out your damn mind…t-to think I'll let you off that easy."

Tony couldn't help himself, listening to the songs words because it was something to focus on- and he laughed too, loudly and the laughter while cold warmed his stomach a little. It might just be an illusion too; because Tony heard when you started to really freeze to death you start burning up and getting delirious. He didn't want to freeze to death, and so he fought the cold, and yet still he could feel him head swimming when he stopped laughing. "Oh, oops, bad idea" He groaned softly ducking his face into the blanket near her head of hair.

"G-go on sorry" Tony shivered hard and his whole body tensed in retaliation. He tried not to move his body too much because the earth was warm where they melted some of the snow. She felt so hot, and he imagined he did too, because she was holding onto his left arm.

"I-I can't remember s-some of the words…" She offered up with a shrug. Tony nodded his head at her, "Just, where-e-ever is fine. F-fuck _its cold_" He couldn't help it, he had to complain at least a little. It made everyone feel better, and he was no different.

"H-have a fit s-s-slam the door, that sh-shit belongs to me" Starling picked up her voice a ghost of the actual sound it could make. Tony knew nothing about her, except what he was told which wasn't much. He wasn't stupid though he knew she had a stronger voice then that. She sounded almost tired like she was falling asleep.

"Hey, stay awake, don't leave me here." Tony said in a panic, his heart picking up dangerously when he shifted and wiggled his arm. It was a lot warmer with her clutching it like a toy. When he moved she made a disappointed noise leveling on his mostly numb knees. This was harder then he thought it would be and he grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently. "Wake up!" Tony sounded frightened and even to himself-_pathetic_ but he didn't care. The last thing he needed was someone to die because they were helping him again.

"What?" Starling slurred and her voice sounded rough and wet like water was in it. Tony's mind could explain that one _she had an infection, she was freezing to death- she was a lot smaller then he was she was dying_ those thoughts were enough to make him babble on and ignore the painful numbness in his own limbs.

"I'm a billionaire you know? I when we get out of here and better I'll take us both to Hawaii or no, fuck that the desert in California. Where it's so fucking hot the cold can't exist- except you know in the winter, its cold there in the winter but!" Tony's head was spinning in his panic, his heart rushing blood to his face which felt like it didn't exist much either. "Pretend you're there, burning up in the sun and it's not cold at all; it's a nice summer night and, shit, Starling _stay awake"_ Tony was having flash backs of watching Yinsen die on those sacks of cement and other unmentionables. Despite his lingering guilt and building fear he still managed to hear something odd. The forest and snow was so silent, so hearing a noise that wasn't his voice made him tense.

"Did you hear that?" Tony whispered to her pulling himself closer to her, because she was slumping over slightly. He shook her hard and felt bad when her head knocked against the thin tree behind her. "Uh-huh?" Starling slurred and blinked, and Tony swore colorfully.

"We're being hunted, remember?" Tony whispered harshly, the paranoia he developed while being out here; and from before- made it impossible to calm down now. "What if that is them? What if they found us? We're screwed!" Though the thought of getting caught just to escape the biting cold was tempting to say the least he wouldn't do it though, not yet. Not if he could still move "Come on Starling I need your tactile mind, come on…" Tony felt the fear morph into a sense of hopelessness.

"If I have to carry you away from here, I will" Tony said sternly moving her off the tree and pulling her backwards. He tired to stand but fell when his legs refused to help him. "Crap, Starling come on" Tony wined which he heard was completely unbecoming of a grown man to do. He couldn't bring himself to care much. "Hey, hey, Stay awake" Tony shook her again and her body jolted her head lifting before it fell backwards against the snow and tree limply. "T-tony, shut up" Starling said quietly she rose a shaking hand to her face and rubbed her eyes. "Oh thank god you are awake" He didn't know if he wanted to cry or not yet.

He would deny it if he did, though. "…." Tony listened to nothing- no noise; did his mind fabricate that? "Oh god I'm going to die, I'm starting to hallucinate." He said his eyes felt like lead, but he fought it. "Starling I'm going crazy" He said "Like in that song. I must be trippin" The sound of her weak laugh made his chest ache in a small amount of relief.

Tony wasn't going crazy though- as he found out because the next rustle was louder, and closer and he tensed all over again his numb leg and his aching chest and his burning face reminding him that he might die too. Her hand fumbled forward and touched his arm- and even he could tell that her fingers were crazy cold. She couldn't grip his arm like she might have wanted to. Her fingers were bent slightly and just slid down it. "You heard that?" Starling was nodding off again and Tony scrambled back to her his fingers burning when he really grabbed the snow.

_It's a tingling pain, much like when you come inside a warm house from being out in the freezing snow to long in New York or Michigan, the only difference is that it's just tingling, and just pain and no warmth._

He was surprised he could even still tell his hands were cold, that he was cold because he swore his arms were disappearing like his legs were. Blankets or not he was moving around too much, allowing the heat to escape.

All he could do was brace himself as he curled next to Starling when the noises got closer. His heart hammered and his head felt heavy. He listened to the noise like a wounded cat curled and hissing against a tree with its dead babies that succumbed to the cold, except, Starling wasn't dead. Or at least not yet- if she did die of hypothermia or something Tony wasn't quite sure how he'd handle that yet.

The bush covered in matted and half melted snow rustled right in front of them and he held his breath and closed his eyes. He heard more rustling and a gasp and he waited. When nothing happened right away he was curious but his shivering from and his tired eyes refused to re-open to look.

"Tony?" A voice asked and he forced himself to open his eyes despite his lethargic state, despite how much he realized when he closed them how badly he wanted to keep them closed and sleep. His vision was at first blurry and he squinted his eyes at a blinding yellow light that landed on him. He would have raised his hand to block it but he was too busy trying to pretend to feel Starling next to him to do so. "Tony, oh my god, hold on buddy" The voice said and Tony nodded slowly at it not sure saying anything right now was really possible.

_Clint Barton_ His mind supplied him and he felt his entire body sag in sudden, unnatural relief. He could hardly feel when Clint grabbed his blanket covered arm- the ratty thing covering the jacket he had. The hat on his head slid over slightly when extremely warm hands touched his neck to check for a heartbeat. "Sh-shit" Tony said with a small gasp his entire body taking up shaking in a really violent display of weakness and cold.

He heard more footsteps and felt alarmed, but at the same time the thoughts '_try and take me now,'_ where running around in scrambled sentences in his head. "We're going to get you out of here buddy, okay?" Clint was trying to be comforting- was that what that was? Or was it his training in SHEILD that made him steady and composed and made him sound so darn sure of himself.

"S-starling, Don't…" Tony was being pulled up and there were more people suddenly. Despite the amount of people that showed up –maybe five? Tony couldn't tell- they were quiet in working. He thought he heard someone mention breathing problems but Tony couldn't quite keep up as he was lifted onto a metal and fabric Litter- and covered in more blankets. The ride was jerky, at best, and he fought to keep himself conscious while they moved.

He didn't remember falling asleep, hell he didn't even remember hearing any noise at all from that brief moment of delirious muttering he was sure he did, but when he opened his eyes again he was not freezing to death, but he was warm. Tony was also staring up at a slate grey ceiling in a not-entirely too comfortable bed with white and grey sheets and blankets on it.

He shifted and he panicked for about forty seconds sending a heart monitor to his right –why didn't he notice that before? - Into a small fit of harsh beeps. He took a breath and let it out slowly, his chest ached, his lungs burned and his legs felt like lead.

He wiggled his toes and crowed in delight when he could feel them stiffly move back and forth. "Oh sweet Toes did I lose any of you?" His voice was sleep soaked and cracking but he talked to himself anyways.

"No, you didn't lose any limbs, Tony." An amused and softly cautious voice said from somewhere. Tony blinked and glanced around looking for the noise source- his eyes scanning over it before coming back to it. "Dr. Banner" Tony mumbled staring to push himself up on the bed. _I am not a lay in bed type of guy, you see_ But Banner knew that already.

They talked for ten minutes about his condition, how he was doing and Tony nodded at the information he was given. He had no injuries that were serious, cuts and stiff limbs and a fractured foot which was better then he would have anticipated. "I wouldn't be surprised if the skin on your legs remains patchy and red for a little while, Ice can burn skin too you know and walking through snow like that tends to do some damage." Bruce spoke softly; he had taken to sitting on a stool near Tony's bed.

"Yeah, well, you know me. That whole not listening well thing and all" Tony said raising a hand and letting it flop around in the air dismissively before his finally half-woken brain caught up to his situation.

"Where is Starling?" Tony asked his hand slapping the sheets when it landed and the short sound that followed it was all the sound there was after Tony's question. The silence permeated the walls, and Tony grew restless even with the small hesitation. _Music, I need lots of music too. The loud kind- black Sabbath, maybe something even more depressing…_ He'd have to remember that, too.

"Well?" He didn't mean to sound mean, pushy and maybe even hysterically concerned. Though, Tony already had an excuse for it in his head when Bruce gave him a funny look. "Where is she?" Tony started to move to the side of the bed Bruce wasn't sitting on to stand up, pulling wires off as he went.

"I need to thank her and all, you know, I think I really would have been stuck there since no one seemed to be able to figure out where the fuck I was on their own." Yeah, he was bitter.

"Tony." Bruce's voice was stern and stopped Tony from going on a long tangent about how disappointed he was, followed up by hidden anger at them for their incompetence with unnecessarily cruel jokes about their abilities to search for things. He turned his brown eyes onto Bruce and waited with baited breath stuck in his chest as the good doctor pulled his glasses off and fiddled with them. A nervous habit- Tony noticed it before- and he felt something in his mind break a little. "What?" Tony snapped "Come on Bruce, spit it out I'm dying here" Tony pushed waiting his legs dangling over the side of the bed.

"She's alive, but her condition isn't the greatest." Bruce said at once putting his glasses back on to look at Tony sadly. "She's sleeping right now, and you're welcome to see her if you want. She has a really bad infection Tony, it spread pretty quickly…" Bruce's voice trailed off and Tony felt his entire brain halt and reverse four times. "Okay" Tony said slowly, his face remaining blank as he processed that. "Okay."

Bruce frowned at his friend, and shook his head slightly. Tony was worrisome for a few reasons for Bruce, his lack of peaceful sleep, nightmares of some kind he assumed, and his strangely expressionless face. Tony was a rather odd person to be around. It was hard to tell sometimes what he wanted to do or what he was thinking- and if you had any idea how to read those unreadable looks, it was likely you couldn't keep up with them long enough to get a clear message.

Tony had one of those looks now, and Bruce didn't even try to figure it out as he stood from his stool. Tony got back into the bed to his shock and, really, worry, and just laid there staring at the ceiling again. "I'll go check on her for you, get some rest" Bruce said trying to sound happy, confident but he couldn't. Tony gave a muted nod and his brow scrunched as he lay there, Bruce leaving him with his thoughts not sure if that was a good idea or not.


End file.
